1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an adjustable back support for bins of the type used to ship articles, e.g., glass sheets, automotive backlites, automotive windshields or automotive sidelights.
2. Discussion of the Technical Problems
Articles, e.g., glass sheets, automotive backlites, automotive windshields or automotive sidelights, are normally shipped to automotive manufacturers in bins or racks.
During shipment, e.g., by rail car or truck, the articles in the bins are subjected to transportation forces. For example, the articles are subjected to (1) oscillatory forces which tend to move the articles about a pivot point toward and away from the back wall of the bin, i.e., along an oscillatory reciprocating path; and (2) lateral forces which tend to move the articles toward and away from the back wall of the bin, i.e., along a lateral reciprocating path.
These forces which act on the articles are caused by the motion of the rail car or truck as it moves along the rails or road respectively. As can be appreciated by those skilled in the art, these transportation forces can damage the articles, especially glass, during transit making them unusable.
In general, to prevent damage to the articles, e.g., automotive backlites, during shipping, the backlites are normally loaded in a bin in a vertical position with an edge of the backlites resting on a resilient pad and tilted toward the back wall of the bin for packing stability. A front restraint device is mounted at the ingress end of the bin to maintain the backlites against the back support and to unitize the backlites.
The tilting of the backlites facilitates loading of the backlites into the bin and also tends to reduce the oscillatory motion of the backlites during shipment. More particularly, because the articles are on one edge tilted toward the back wall, a greater oscillatory force has to be applied to oscillate the backlites about the bottom edge thereby canceling out small swaying motions of the rail car or truck.
In the prior art, bins used for transporting automotive backlites are provided with a wedged shaped member positioned in the back of the bin to provide a tilt to the backlites. This is undesirable for several reasons; namely, (1) when the bin is unloaded, the wedged shaped member has to be disposed of creating a solid waste problem; and (2) for partial loads and different curvature of backlites, it is required to have on hand different shaped wedge members thereby requirring different members to be made and stored.
It would be advantageous, therefore, if a bin for shipping articles is available that did not have the drawbacks or limitations of the prior art. More particularly, it would be advantageous to provide a bin with a back support that is adjustable to accommodate backlites of different curvature and does not create a solid waste disposal problem.